Tuesday, 28 October 2014

AKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Nicole Pelusio on canoe (credits: Nicole Pelusio).

I am really grateful to have a chance like this one for joining an international research team working on Black Soldier Fly production in relation to incorporation into commercial aqua-feeds, and test them directly into production conditions of a commercial tilapia farm.

After all the challenges met on the way, the risks and demotivating days, there are no words for describing this experience. Within the sunny and colorful habits, I joined as well the great mood of Ghanaian people and colleagues: they really keep shiny even when the rains come and day on day you have to work out on the cages in the bad weather...

Nicole on wooden platform (credits:Francis Murray).

The list of names of people preciously helping this growth trial would be almost endless, so I have to be general.

I am really grateful to anyone, from above to below: the coordinators of PROteINSECT project, the researchers, and people who joined and helped in every single thing, the bigger and smaller ones.

Special thanks are referred to the supervisors from the Institute of Aquaculture University of Stirling, (UK), the incredible staff of the commercial tilapia farm (every day I learnt many things from them and they were fantastic with me), to the fish-feed factory staff for their cool availability, to the tilapia fingerlings and to the Black Soldier Flies, hoping that they can be helpful for the project’s purpose for a better future.

Special thanks go to Miss Emilie Devic: she was very kind to me, helped in getting the confidence to living (above all to not getting lost!) and working in Ghana, training me and correcting my mistakes with great problem solving skills and continual patience, even though she was far away looking after other works and duties.

Emilie Devic (credits: William Leschen).

From BSF larvae, to feed, to tilapias (credits:Nicole Pelusio).

This insect larval feeds based trial carried out on a commercial tilapia cage farm in Ghana, was the first of its kind not just in this Country but also in West Africa. It was carried out as part of the ECFP7 funded PROteINSECT project http://www.proteinsect.eu/ .

The data from the trial are now being analyzed and further laboratory tests are being carried out at the Institute of Aquaculture University of Stirling, (UK) on post-trial body carcass composition by Stirling PhD student Emilie Devic.

When completed, the results will form part of Emilie’s PhD thesis which when published will be freely available online on the University of Stirling website.

For further information about the trial and/or the project, please contact Emilie Devic e.d.devic@stir.ac.uk or if you wish to contact myself Nicole Pelusio, the author of this blog nicole.pelusio@studio.unibo.it